ONE TWO — THRKK GJ7  /'  " 


Jumping 


IN  ENGLISH,  THEN  IN  FRENCH,  THEN 
CLAWED  BACK  INTO  A  CIVILIZED 
LANGUAGE  ONCE  MORE  BY 
PATIENT,  UNREMUNERATED  TOIL 


BH  iflarh  uUuain 

ILLUSTRATED  BY 

F.  STROTHMAN 


NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 
HARPER  6-  BROTHERS 
PUBLISHERS  ::  MCMIII 


GENERAL 


Copyright,  1903,  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS. 

All  rights  nservt*. 
Published  November,  1903. 


Illustrations 


'  '  ONE TWO — THREE — C/r/'  "       • 

"l    FOUND    SIMON   WHEELER   DOZ 
ING  COMFORTABLY"     .     .     . 
"BACKED  ME  INTO  A  CORNER"  . 
"'THISH-YER     SMILEY     HAD     A 

MARE"' 

"ANDREW  JACKSO           .... 
"TURN  ONE  SUMMERSET,  OR  MAY 
BE  A  COUPLE' " 

"DAN'L  WEBSTER" 

"'IT  MIGHT  BE  A  CANARY,  MAY 
BE,  BUT  IT  AIN'T — IT'S  ONLY 

JUST  A  FROG'"  

"'PRIZED  HIS  MOUTH  OPEN" 
"  '  FINALLY  HE  KETCHED  A  FROG 
"'TURNED  HIM  UPSIDE   DOWN'' 
"MY  RE-TRANSLATION  FROM  THE 
FRENCH" 


Frontispiece 

Facing  f.     4 
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KD3 


I     KK.NL)    SIMON     \VIIKELER    UOZIXG    COMFORTABLY 


The  Jumping  Frog 


>VEN  a  criminal  is  entitled 
to  fair  play ;  and  certainly 
when  a  man  who  has  done 
no  harm  has  been  unjust 
ly  treated,  he  is  privileged  to  do  his 
best  to  right  himself.  My  attention 
has  just  been  called  to  an  article  some 
three  years  old  in  a  French  magazine 
entitled,  "  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes" 
(Review  of  Some  Two  Worlds) ,  where 
in  the  writer  treats  of  "  Les  Hu- 
moristes  Am&icaines  "  (These  Hu 
morists  Americans).  I  am  one  of 


The   Jumping    Prog 

these  humorists  Americans  dissected 
by  him,  and  hence  the  complaint  I 
am  making. 

This  gentleman's  article  is  an  able 
one  (as  articles  go,  in  the  French, 
where  they  always  tangle  up  every 
thing  to  that  degree  that  when  you 
start  into  a  sentence  you  never  know 
whether  you  are  going  to  come  out 
alive  or  not).  It  is  a  very  good 
article,  and  the  writer  says  all  man 
ner  of  kind  and  complimentary  things 
about  me — for  which  I  am  sure  I 
thank  him  with  all  my  heart;  but 
then  why  should  he  go  and  spoil  all 
his  praise  by  one  unlucky  experi 
ment?  What  I  refer  to  is  this:  he 
says  my  Jumping  Frog  is  a  funny 
story,  but  still  he  can't  see  why  it 
should  ever  really  convulse  any  one 


The   Jumping    Frog 

with  laughter — and  straightway  pro 
ceeds  to  translate  it  into  French  in 
order  to  prove  to  his  nation  that 
there  is  nothing  so  very  extrava 
gantly  funny  about  it.  Just  there  is 
where  my  complaint  originates.  He 
has  not  translated  it  at  all;  he  has 
simply  mixed  it  all  up ;  it  is  no  more 
like  the  Jumping  Frog  when  he  gets 
through  with  it  than  I  am  like  a 
meridian  of  longitude.  But  my  mere 
assertion  is  not  proof;  wherefore  I 
print  the  French  version,  that  all 
may  see  that  I  do  not  speak  falsely ; 
furthermore,  in  order  that  even  the 
unlettered  may  know  my  injury  and 
give  me  their  compassion,  I  have  been 
at  infinite  pains  and  trouble  to  re 
translate  this  French  version  back 
into  English ;  and  to  tell  the  truth  I 
3 


The   Jumping    Frog 

have  wellnigh  worn  myself  out  at  it, 
having  scarcely  rested  from  my  work 
during  five  days  and  nights.     I  can 
not  speak  the  French  language,  but  I 
can  translate  very  well,  though  not 
fast,  I  being  self-educated.     I  ask  the 
reader  to  run  his  eye  over  the  original 
English  version  of  the  Jumping  Frog, 
and  then  read  the  French  or  my  re- 
translation,  and  kindly  take  notice 
how  the  Frenchman  has  riddled  the 
grammar.     I  think  it  is  the  worst  I 
ever  saw,  and  yet  the  French  are  called 
a  polished  nation.    If  I  had  a  boy  that 
put  sentences  together  as  they  do,  I 
would  polish  him  to  some  purpose. 
Without    further     introduction,    the 
Jumping  Frog,  as  I  originally  wrote  it, 
was  as  follows  [after  it  will  be  found 
the    French   version,   and   after   the 
4 


The  Jumping    Frog 

latter   my   re  -  translation  from  the 
French] : 

THE     NOTORIOUS     JUMPING     FROG     OF 
CALAVERAS*    COUNTY 

IN  compliance  with  the  request  of 
a  friend  of  mine,  who  wrote  me  from 
the  East,  I  called  on  good-natured, 
garrulous  old  Simon  Wheeler,  and  in 
quired  after  my  friend's  friend,  Leo- 
nidas  W.  Smiley,  as  requested  to  do, 
and  I  hereunto  append  the  result. 
I  have  a  lurking  suspicion  that  Leo- 
nidas  W.  Smiley  is  a  myth;  that  my 
friend  never  knew  such  a  personage; 
and  that  he  only  conjectured  that  if 
I  asked  old  Wheeler  about  him,  it 
would  remind  him  of  his  infamous 
Jim  Smiley,  and  he  would  go  to  work 

*  Pronounced  Cal-e-va-ras. 

5 


The   Jumping    Frog 

and  bore  me  to  death  with  some 
exasperating  reminiscence  of  him  as 
long  and  as  tedious  as  it  should  be 
useless  to  me.  If  that  was  the  de 
sign,  it  succeeded. 

I  found  Simon  Wheeler  dozing  com 
fortably  by  the  barroom  stove  of  the 
dilapidated  tavern  in  the '  decaying 
mining  camp  of  Angel's,  and  I  noticed 
that  he  was  fat  and  bald-headed,  and 
had  an  expression  of  winning  gentle 
ness  and  simplicity  upon  his  tranquil 
countenance.  He  roused  up,  and 
gave  me  good-day.  I  told  him  a 
friend  of  mine  had  commissioned  me 
to  make  some  inquiries  about  a  cher 
ished  companion  of  his  boyhood 
named  Leonidas  W.  Smiley  —  Rev. 
Leonidas  W.  Smiley,  a  young  min 
ister  of  the  Gospel,  who  he  had  heard 
6 


The   Jumping    Frog 

was  at  one  time  a  resident  of  Angel's 
Camp.     I  added  that  if  Mr.  Wheeler 
could  tell  me  anything   about  this 
Rev.  Leonidas  W.  Smiley,  I  would 
feel  under  many  obligations  to  him. 
Simon  Wheeler  backed  me  into  a 
corner  and  blockaded  me  there  with 
his  chair,   and  then  sat  down  and 
reeled  off  the  monotonous  narrative 
which   follows   this   paragraph.     He 
never  smiled,  he  never  frowned,  he 
never   changed  his   voice   from   the 
gentle-flowing  key  to  which  he  tuned 
his  initial  sentence,  he  never  betrayed 
the  slightest  suspicion  of  enthusiasm ; 
but  all  through  the  interminable  nar 
rative  there  ran  a  vein  of  impres 
sive  earnestness  and  sincerity,  which 
showed  me  plainly  that,  so  far  from 
his  imagining  that  there  was  any- 
7 


The    Jumping    Frog 

thing  ridiculous  or  funny  about  his 
story,  he  regarded  it  as  a  really  im 
portant  matter,  and  admired  its  two 
heroes  as  men  of  transcendent  genius 
in  finesse.  I  let  him  go  on  in  his  own 
way,  and  never  interrupted  him  once. 
"Rev.  Leonidas  W.  H'm,  Rever 
end  Le — well,  there  was  a  feller  here 
once  by  the  name  of  Jim  Smiley,  in 
the  winter  of  '49  —  or  maybe  it  was 
the  spring  of  '50 — I  don't  recollect 
exactly,  somehow,  though  what 
makes  me  think  it  was  one  or  the 
other  is  because  I  remember  the  big 
flume  warn't  finished  when  he  first 
come  to  the  camp;  but  anyway,  he 
was  the  curiosest  man  about  always 
betting  on  anything  that  turned  up 
you  ever  see,  if  he  could  get  anybody 
to  bet  on  the  other  side;  and  if  he 
8 


BACKED  ME   INTO  A  CORNER 


Of  TME 

DIVERSITY 


V 


The   Jumping    Frog 

couldn't  he'd  change  sides.     Any  way 
that  suited  the  other  man  would  suit 
him — any  Way  just  so's  he  got  a  bet, 
he  was  satisfied.     But  still  he  was 
lucky,  uncommon  lucky ;  he  most  al 
ways  come  out  winner.     He  was  al 
ways  ready  and  laying  for  a  chance; 
there  couldn't  be  no  solit'ry  thing 
mentioned  but  that  feller'd  offer  to 
bet   on  it,    and   take   ary   side   you 
please,  as  I  was  just  telling  you.     If 
there  was  a  horse-race,   you'd  find 
him  flush  or  you'd  find  him  busted 
at  the  end  of  it;  if  there  was  a  dog 
fight,  he'd  bet  on  it;  if  there  was  a 
cat-fight,  he'd  bet  on  it ;  if  there  was 
a  chicken-fight,  he'd  betjjln  it ;  why,  if 
there  was  two  birds  setting  on  a  fence, 
he  would, -bet  you  which  one  would 
fly  first;  or  if  there  was  a  camp-meet- 
9 


The   Jumping    Frog 

ing,  he  would  be  there  reg'Ur  to  bet 
on  Parson  Walker,  which  lie  judged 
to  be  the  best  exhorter  about  here, 
and  so  he  was,  too,  and  a  good  man. 
If  he  even  see  a  straddle-bug  start  to 
go  anywheres,  he  would  bet  you  how 
long  it  would  take  him  to  get  to — to 
wherever  he  was  going  to,  and  if  you 
took  him  up,  he  would  foller  that 
straddle-bug  to  Mexico  but  what  he 
would  find  out  where  he  was  bound  for 
and  how  long  he  was  on  the  road. 
Lots  of  the  boys  here  has  seen  that 
Smiley,  and  can  tell  you  about  him. 
-Vhy,  it  never  made  no  difference  to 
him  —  he'd  bet  an  any  thing  —  the 
dangdest  feller.  Parson  Walker's 
wife  laid  very  sick  once,  for  a  good 
while,  and  it  seemed  as  if  they  warn't 
going  to  save  her;  but  one  morning 
10 


The   Jumping    Frog 

he  come  in,  and  Smiley  up  and  asked 
him  how  she  was,  and  he  said  she 
was  considable  better  —  thank  the 
Lord  for  his  inf'nite  mercy  —  and 
coming  on  so  smart  that  with  the 
blessing  of  Prov'dence  she'd  get  well 
yet ;  and  Smiley,  before  he  thought, 
says:  'Well,  I'll  resk  two-and-a-half 
she  don't  anyway.' 

"Thish-yer  Smiley  had  a  mare— 
the  boys  called  her  the  fifteen-minute 
nag,  but  that  was  only  in  fun,  you 
know,  because,  of  course,  she  was 
faster  than  that — and  he  used  to  win 
money  on  that  horse,  for  all  she  was 
so  slow  and  always  had  the  asthma, 
or  the  distemper,  or  the  consumption, 
or  something  of  that  kind.  They 
used  to  give  her  two  or  three  hun 
dred  yards  start,  and  then  pass  her 
ii 


The   Jumping    Frog 

under  way;  but  always  at  the  fag 
end  of  the  race  she'd  get  excited  and 
desperate  like,  and  come  cavorting 
and  straddling  up,  and  scattering 
her  legs  around  limber,  sometimes  in 
the  air,  and  sometimes  out  to  one 
side  among  the  fences,  and  kicking 
up  m-o-r-e  dust  and  raising  m-o-r-e 
racket  with  her  coughing  and  sneez 
ing  and  blowing  her  nose — and  al 
ways  fetch  up  at  the  stand  just 
about  a  neck  ahead,  as  near  as  you 
could  cipher  it  down. 

"And  he  had  a  little  small  bull-pup, 
that  to  look  at  him  you'd  think  he 
warn't  worth  a  cent  but  to  set  around 
and  look  ornery  and  lay  for  a  chance 
to  steal  something.  But  as  soon  as 
money  was  up  on  him  he  was  a  dif 
ferent  dog;  his  under-jaw'd  begin  to 
12 


"  '  THISH-YER    SMILEY    HAD    A    MARE 


The   Jumping    Frog 

stick  out  like  the  fo'castle  of  a  steam 
boat,  and  his  teeth  would  uncover 
and  shine  like  the  furnaces.  And  a 
dog  might  tackle  him  and  bully-rag 
him,  and  bite  him,  and  throw  him 
over  his  shoulder  two  or  three  times, 
and  Andrew  Jackson — which  was  the 
name  of  the  pup — Andrew  Jackson 
would  never  let  on  but  what  he  was 
satisfied,  and  hadn't  expected  noth 
ing  else — and  the  bets  being  doubled 
and  doubled  on  the  other  side  all  the 
time,  till  the  money  was  all  up;  and 
then  all  of  a  sudden  he  would  grab 
that  other  dog  jest  by  the  j'int  of 
his  hind  leg  and  freeze  to  it — not 
chaw,  you  understand,  but  only  just 
grip  and  hang  on  till  they  throwed 
up  the  sponge,  if  it  was  a  year. 
Smiley  always  come  out  winner  on 
13 


The   Jumping    Frog 

that  pup,  till  he  harnessed  a  dog  once 
that  didn't  have  no  hind  legs,  be 
cause  they'd  been  sawed  off  in  a  cir 
cular  saw,  and  when  the  thing  had 
gone  along  far  enough,  and  the  money 
was  all  up,  and  he  come  to  make  a 
snatch  for  his  pet  holt,  he  see  in  a 
minute  how  he'd  been  imposed  on, 
and  how  the  other  dog  had  him  in  the 
door,  so  to  speak,  and  he  'peared  sur 
prised,  and  then  he  looked  sorter 
discouraged-like  and  didn't  try  no 
more  to  win  the  fight,  and  so  he  got 
shucked  out  bad.  He  give  Smiley  a 
look,  as  much  as  to  say  his  heart  was 
broke,  and  it  was  his  fault,  for  putting 
up  a  dog  that  hadn't  no  hind  legs  for 
him  to  take  holt  of,  which  was  his 
main  dependence  in  a  fight,  and  then 
he  limped  off  a  piece  and  laid  down 
14 


The   Jumping    Frog 

and  died.  It  was  a  good  pup,  was 
that  Andrew  Jackson,  and  would  have 
made  a  name  for  hisself  if  he'd  lived, 
for  the  stuff  was  in  him  and  he  had 
genius — I  know  it,  because  he  hadn't 
no  opportunities  to  speak  of,  and  it 
don't  stand  to  reason  that  a  dog 
could  make  such  a  fight  as  he  could 
under  them  circumstances  if  he  hadn't 
no  talent.  It  always  makes  me  feel 
sorry  when  I  think  of  that  last  fight 
of  his'n,  and  the  way  it  turned  out. 
"Well,  thish-yer  Smiley  had  rat- 
tamers,  and  chicken  cocks,  and  tom 
cats  and  all  them  kind  of  things,  till 
you  couldn't  rest,  and  you  couldn't 
fetch  nothing  for  him  to  bet  on  but 
he'd  match  you.  He  ketched  a  frog 
one  day,  and  took  him  home,  and  said 
he  cal'lated  to  educate  him ;  and  so 
15 


The   Jumping    Frog 

he  never  done  nothing  for  three 
months  but  set  in  his  back  yard  and 
learn  that  frog  to  jump.  And  you 
bet  you  he  did  learn  him,  too.  He'd 
give  him  a  little  punch  behind,  and 
the  next  minute  you'd  see  that  frog 
whirling  in  the  air  like  a  doughnut — 
see  him  turn  one  summerset,  or  may 
be  a  couple,  if  he  got  a  good  start, 
and  come  down  flat-footed  and  all 
right,  like  a  cat.  He  got  him  up  so 
in  the  matter  of  ketching  flies,  and 
kep'  him  in  practice  so  constant,  that 
he'd  nail  a  fly  every  time  as  fur  as  he 
could  see  him.  Smiley  said  all  a  frog 
wanted  was  education,  and  he  could 
do  'most  anything — and  I  believe  him. 
Why,  I've  seen  him  set  Dan'l  Webster 
down  here  on  this  floor — Dan'l  Web 
ster  was  the  name  of  the  frog — and 
16 


The  Jumping    Frog 

sing  out,  'Flies,  Dan'l,  flies!'  and 
quicker'n  you  could  wink  he'd  spring 
straight  up  and  snake  a  fly  offn  the 
counter  there,  and  flop  down  on  the 
floor  ag'in  as  solid  as  a  gob  of  mud, 
and  fall  to  scratching  the  side  of  his 
head  with  his  hind  foot  as  indifferent 
as  if  he  hadn't  no  idea  he'd  been 
doin'  any  more'n  any  frog  might  do. 
You  never  see  a  frog  so  modest  and 
straightfor'ard  as  he  was,  for  all  he 
was  so  gifted.  And  when  it  come  to 
fair  and  square  jumping  on  a  dead 
level,  he  could  get  over  more  ground 
at  one  straddle  than  any  animal  of 
his  breed  you  ever  see.  Jumping  on 
a  dead  level  was  his  strong  suit,  you 
understand ;  and  when  it  come  to  that, 
Smiley  would  ante  up  money  on  him 
as  long  as  he  had  a  red.  Smiley  was 
17 


The   Jumping    Frog 

monstrous  proud  of  his  frog,  and  well 
he  might  be,  for  fellers  that  had  trav 
elled  and  been  everywheres  all  said  he 
laid  over  any  frog  that  ever  they  see./ 

"Well,  Smiley  kep'  the  beast  in  a 
little  lattice  box,  and  he  used  to 
fetch  him  down  town  sometimes  and 
lay  for  a  bet.  One  day  a  feller — a 
stranger  in  the  camp,  he  was — come 
acrost  him  with  his  box,  and  says: 

'"What  might  it  be  that  you've 
got  in  the  box?' 

"And  Smiley  says,  sorter  indiffer- 
ent-like :  '  It  might  be  a  parrot,  or  it 
might  be  a  canary,  maybe,  but  it 
ain't — it's  only  just  a  frog.' 

"  And  the  feller  took  it,  and  looked 
at  it  careful,  and  turned  it  round  this 
way  and  that,  and  says:  'H'm —  so 
'tis.     Well,  what's  he  good  for?' 
18 


ANDREW    JACKSON 


The   Jumping    Frog 

"'Well,'  Smiley  says,  easy  and 
careless,  'he's  good  enough  for  one 
thing,  I  should  judge — he  can  out- 
jump  any  frog  in  Calaveras  county/ 

"  The  feller  took  the  box  again,  and 
took  another  long,  particular  look, 
and  give  it  back  to  Smiley,  and  says, 
very  deliberate,  'Well,'  he  says,  'I 
don't  see  no  p'ints  about  that  frog 
that's  any  better'n  any  other  frog.' 

'"Maybe  you  don't/  Smiley  says. 
'Maybe  you  understand  frogs  and 
maybe  you  don't  understand  'em; 
maybe  you've  had  experience,  and 
maybe  you  ain't  only  a  amature,  as 
it  were.  Anyways,  I've  got  my 
opinion,  and  I'll  resk  forty  dollars 
that  he  can  out  jump  any  frog  in 
Calaveras  county.' 

"And  the  feller  studied  a  minute, 


The   Jumping    Prog 

and  then  says,  kinder  sad  like, '  Well, 
I'm  only  a  stranger  here,  and  I  'ain't 
got  no  frog;  but  if  I  had  a  frog,  I'd 
bet  you.' 

"And  then  Smiley  says,  'That's  all 
right — that's  all  right — if  you'll  hold 
my  box  a  minute,  I'll  go  and  get  you 
a  frog.'  And  so  the  feller  took  the 
box,  and  put  up  his  forty  dollars 
along  with  Smiley 's,  and  set  down  to 
wait. 

"  So  he  set  there  a  good  while  think 
ing  and  thinking  to  hisself,  and  then 
he  got  the  frog  out  and  prized  his 
mouth  open  and  took  a  teaspoon  and 
filled  him  full  of  quail  shot — filled  him 
pretty  near  up  to  his  chin — and  set 
him  on  the  floor.  Smiley  he  went  to 
the  swamp  and  slopped  around  in  the 
mud  for  a  long  time,  and  finally  he 
20 


The   Jumping    Prog 

ketched  a  frog,  and  fetched  him  in, 
and  give  him  to  this  feller,  and  says : 

"'Now,  if  you're  ready,  set  him 
alongside  of  Dan'l,  with  his  forepaws 
just  even  with  Dan'l's,  and  I'll  give 
the  word.'  Then  he  says,  'One- 
two — three — git!1  and  him  and  the 
feller  touched  up  the  frogs  from  be 
hind,  and  the  new  frog  hopped  off 
lively,  but  Dan'l  give  a  heave,  and 
hysted  up  his  shoulders — so — like  a 
Frenchman,  but  it  warn't  no  use- 
he  couldn't  budge ;  he  was  planted  as 
solid  as  a  church,  and  he  couldn't  no 
more  stir  than  if  he  was  anchored 
out.  Smiley  was  a  good  deal  sur 
prised,  and  he  was  disgusted  too,  but 
he  didn't  have  no  idea  what  the  mat 
ter  was,  of  course. 

"The  feller  took  the  money  and 

21 


The   Jumping    Frog 

started  away ;  and  when  he  was  going 
out  at  the  door,  he  sorter  jerked  his 
thumb  over  his  shoulder  —  so  —  at 
Dan'l,  and  says  again,  very  deliber 
ate,  'Well,'  he  says,  7  don't  see  no 
p'ints  about  that  frog  that's  any 
better'n  any  other  frog.' 

"Smiley  he  stood  scratching  his 
head  and  looking  down  at  Dan'l  a 
long  time,  and  at  last  he  says,  '  I  do 
wonder  what  in  the  nation  that  frog 
throw'd  off  for  —  I  wonder  if  there 
ain't  something  the  matter  with  him 
—he  'pears  to  look  mighty  baggy, 
somehow.'  And  he  ketched  Dan'l  by 
the  nap  of  the  neck,  and  hefted  him, 
and  says,  'Why,  blame  my  cats  if 
he  don't  weigh  five  pound!'  and 
turned  him  upside  down  and  he 
belched  out  a  double  handful  of  shot. 


22 


The  Jumping    Frog 

And  then  he  see  how  it  was,  and  he 
was  the  maddest  man — he  set  the  frog 
down  and  took  out  after  that  feller, 
but  he  never  ketched  him.  And— 

[Here  Simon  Wheeler  heard  his 
name  called  from  the  front  yard,  and 
got  up  to  see  what  was  wanted.]  And 
turning  to  me  as  he  moved  away,  he 
said:  "Just  set  where  you  are, 
stranger,  and  rest  easy — I  ain't  going 
to  be  gone  a  second." 

But,  by  your  leave,  I  did  not  think 
that  a  continuation  of  the  history  of 
the  enterprising  vagabond  Jim  Smiley 
would  be  likely  to  afford  me  much  in 
formation  concerning  the  Rev.  Leoni- 
das  W.  Smiley,  and  so  I  started  away. 

At   the   door   I   met   the   sociable 
Wheeler  returning,   and  he  button 
holed  me  and  re-commenced: 
23 


The   Jumping    Frog 

"Well,  thish-yer  Smiley  had  a  yal- 
ler  one-eyed  cow  that  didn't  have  no 
tail,  only  just  a  short  stump  like  a 
bannanner,  and — " 

However,  lacking  both  time  and 
inclination,  I  did  not  wait  to  hear 
about  the  afflicted  cow,  but  took  my 
leave. 

Now  let  tne  learned  look  upon  this 
picture  and  say  if  iconoclasm  can 
further  go: 

[From  the  "  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,"  of 
July  15,  1872.] 

LA  GRENOUILLE  SANTEUSE  DU  COMTE 
DE    CALAVERAS 

" — II  Y  avait  une  fois  ici  un  indi- 
vidu  connu  sous  le  nom  de  Jim  Smi 
ley  rc^tait  dans  1'hiver  de  49,  peut- 
24 


TURN    ONE    SUMMERSET,   OR    MAYBE    A    COUPLE 


APl 

'      OF   THE 

UNP 


The  Jumping   Frog 

etre  bien  au  prin temps  de  50,  je  ne  me 
rappelle  pas  exactement.  Ce  qui  me 
fait  croire  que  c'e"tait  Tun  ou  1'autre, 
c'est  que  je  me  souviens  que  le  grand 
bief  n'etait  pas  acheve  lorsqu'il  arriva 
au  camp  pour  la  premiere  fois,  mais 
de  toutes  fagons  il  etait  I'homme  le 
plus  friand  de  paris  qui  se  put  voir, 
pariant  sur  tout  ce  qui  se  pr6sentait, 
quand  il  pouvait  trouver  un  adver- 
saire,  et,  quand  il  n'en  trouvait  pas 
il  passait  du  cote  oppose.  Tout  ce 
qui  convenait  a  1'autre  lui  convenait; 
pourvu  qu'il  eut  un  pari,  Smiley  etait 
satisfait.  Et  il  avait  une  chance! 
une  chance  inouie:  presque  tou jours 
il  gagnait.  II  faut  dire  qu'il  etait  tou- 
jours  pret  a  s'exposer,  qu'on  ne  pou 
vait  mentionner  la  moindre  chose 
sans  que  ce  gaillard  offrit  de  parier 
25 


The   Jumping    Prog 

la-dessus  n'importe  quoi  et  de  prendre 
le  cote  que  Ton  voudrait,  comme  je 
vous  le  disais  tout  a  1'heure.  S'il  y 
avait  des  courses,  vous  le  trouviez 
riche  ou  mine  a  la  fin ;  s'il  y  avait  un 
combat  de  chiens,  il  apportait  son 
enjeu;  il  1' apportait  pour  un  combat 
de  chats,  pour  un  combat  de  coqs;— 
parbleu !  si  vous  aviez  vu  deux  oiseaux 
sur  une  haie,  il  vous  aurait  offert  de 
parier  lequel  s'envolerait  le  premier, 
et,  s'il  y  avait  meeting  au  camp,  il 
venait  parier  regulierement  pour  le 
cure  Walker,  qu'il  jugeait  etre  le 
meilleur  predicateur  des  environs,  et 
qui  1'etait  en  effet,  et  un  brave 
homme.  II  aurait  rencontre  une 
punaise  de  bois  en  chemin,  qu'il  aurait 
parie  sur  le  temps  qu'il  lui  faudrait 
pour  aller  ou  elle  voudrait  aller,  et,  si 
26 


The   Jumping    Frog 

vous  1'aviez  pris  au  mot,  il  aurait 
suivi  la  punaise  jusqu'au  Mexique, 
sans  se  soucier  d'aller  si  loin,  ni  du 
temps  qu'il  y  perdrait.  Une  fois  la 
femme  du  cure  Walker  fut  tres 
malade  pendant  longtemps,  il  sem- 
blait  qu'on  ne  la  sauverait  pas;  mais 
un  matin  le  cure  arrive,  et  Smiley  lui 
demande  comment  ella  va,  et  il  dit 
qu'elle  est  bien  mieux,  grace  a  1'infinie 
misericorde,  tellement  mieux  qu'avec 
la  benediction  de  la  Providence  elle 
s'en  tirerait,  et  voila  que,  sans  y 
penser,  Smiley  repond :  —  Eh  bien ! 
ye  gage  deux  et  demi  qu'elle  mourra 
tout  de  meme. 

"Ce  Smiley  avait  une  jument  que 

les  gars  appelaient  le  bidet  du  quart 

d'heure,  mais   seulement   pour  plai- 

santer,  vous  comprenez,  parce  que, 

27 


The    Jumping    Frog 

bien  entendu,  elle  etait  plus  vite  que 
c,a!  Et  il  avait  coutume  de  gagner 
de  1'argent  avec  cette  bete,  quoi- 
qu'elle  f  ut  poussive,  cornarde,  toujours 
prise  d'asthme,  de  coliques  ou  de  con- 
somption,  ou  de  quelque  chose  d'ap- 
prochant.  On  lui  donnait  2  ou  300 
yards  au  depart,  puis  on  la  d<§passait 
sans  peine ;  mais  jamais  a  la  fin  elle  ne 
manquait  de  s'echauffer,  de  s'exas- 
perer,  et  elle  arrivait,  s'ecartant,  se 
defendant,  ses  jambes  greles  en  1'air 
devant  les  obstacles,  quelquefois  les 
eVitant  et  faisant  avec  cela  plus  de 
poussiere  qu'aucun  cheval,  plus  de 
bruit  surtout  avec  ses  <§ternumens  et 
reniflemens, — crac !  elle  arrivait  done 
toujours  premiere  d'une  tete,  aussi 
juste  qu'on  peut  le  mesurer.  Et 
il  avait  un  petit  bouledogue  qui,  a 
28 


The   Jumping    Frog 

le  voir,  ne  valait  pas  un  sou ;  on  au- 
rait  cru  que  parier  contre  lui  c'6tait 
voler,  tant  il  £tait  ordinaire;  mais 
aussitot  les  enjeux  faits,  il  devenait 
un  autre  chien.  Sa  machoire  infe"ri- 
eure  commengait  a  ressortir  comme 
un  gaillard  d'avant,  ses  dents  se 
de"couvraient  brillantes  commes  des 
fournaises,  et  un  chien  pouvait  le 
taquiner,  1'exciter,  le  mordre,  le  jeter 
deux  ou  trois  fois  par-dessus  son 
6paule,  Andre  Jackson,  c'etait  le  nom 
du  chien,  Andre  Jackson  prenait  cela 
tranquillement,  comme  s'il  ne  se  fut 
jamais  attendu  a  autre  chose,  et 
quand  les  paris  6taient  doub!6s  et 
redoubles  contre  lui,  il  vous  saisissait 
1' autre  chien  juste  a  1'articulation  de 
la  jambe  de  derriere,  et  il  ne  la 
la"chait  plus,  non  pas  qu'il  la  macha"t, 
29 


The   Jumping    Frog 

vous  concevez,  mais  il  s'y  serait  tenu 
pendu  jusqu'a  ce  qu'on  jetat  1'eponge 
en  1'air,  fallut-il  attendre  un  an. 
Smiley  gagnait  tou jours  avec  cette 
bete-la;  malheureusement  ils  ont  fini 
par  dresser  un  chien  qui  n'avait  pas 
de  pattes  de  derriere,  parce  qu'on  les 
avait  sciees,  et  quand  les  choses  furent 
au  point  qu'il  voulait,  et  qu'il  en  vint 
a  se  jeter  sur  son  morceau  favori,  le 
pauvre  chien  comprit  en  un  instant 
qu'on  s'6tait  moque  de  lui,  et  que 
1'autre  le  tenait.  Vous  n'avez  jamais 
vu  personne  avoir  1'air  plus  penaud 
et  plus  decourage;  il  ne  fit  aucun 
effort  pour  gagner  le  combat  et  fut 
rudement  secoue,  de  sorte  que,  re 
gardant  Smiley  comme  pour  lui  dire : 
-Mon  cceur  est  brise,  c'est  ta  faute; 
pourquoi  m'avoir  livre  a  un  chien  qui 


DANT  L    WEBSTER 


The   Jumping    Frog 

n'a  pas  de  pattes  de  derriere,  puisque 
c'est  par  la  que  je  les  bats? — il  s'en 
alia  en  clopinant,  et  se  coucha  pour 
mourir.  Ah!  c'etait  un  bon  chien, 
cet  Andre  Jackson,  et  il  se  serait  fait 
un  nom,  s'il  avait  vecu,  car  il  y  avait 
de  1'etoflfe  en  lui,  il  avait  du  genie, 
je  la  sais,  bien  que  de  grandes  occa 
sions  lui  aient  manque;  mais  il  est 
impossible  de  supposer  qu'un  chien 
capable  de  se  battre  comme  lui,  cer- 
taines  circonstances  etant  donees,  ait 
manque  de  talent.  Je  me  sens  triste 
toutes  les  fois  que  je  pense  a  son 
dernier  combat  et  au  denoument 
qu'il  a  eu.  Eh  bien !  ce  Smiley  nour- 
rissait  des  terriers  a  rats,  et  des  coqs 
de  combat,  et  des  chats,  et  toute  sorte 
de  choses,  au  point  qu'il  etait  tou- 
jours  en  mesure  de  vous  tenir  tete,  et 
31 


The   Jumping    Frog 

qu'avec  sa  rage  de  paris  on  n'avait 
plus  de  repos.  II  attrapa  un  jour  une 
grenouille  et  Temporta  chez  lui,  disant 
qu'il  pretendait  faire  son  Education; 
vous  me  croirez  si  vous  voulez,  mais 
pendant  trois  mois  il  n'a  rien  fait  que 
lui  apprendre  a  sauter  dans  une  cour 
retiree  de  sa  maison.  Et  je  vous 
reponds  qu'il  avait  r6ussi.  II  lui 
donnait  un  petit  coup  par  derriere,  et 
1' instant  d'apres  vous  voyiez  la  gre 
nouille  tourner  en  1'air  comme  un 
beignet  au-dessus  de  la  poele,  faire 
une  culbute,  quelquefois  deux,  lors- 
qu'elle  etait  bien  partie,  et  retomber 
sur  ses  pattes  comme  un  chat.  II 
1'avait  dresse*e  dans  Tart  de  gober  des 
mouches,  et  1'y  exergait  continuelle- 
ment,  si  bien  qu'une  mouche,  du  plus 
loin  qu'elle  apparaissait,  6tait  une 
32 


The   Jumping    Frog 

mouche  perdue.  Smiley  avait  cou- 
tume  de  dire  que  tout  ce  qui  manquait 
a  une  grenouille,  c'etait  V education, 
qu'avec  1' education  elle  pouvait  faire 
presque  tout,  et  je  le  crois.  Tenez, 
je  1'ai  vu  poser  Daniel  Webster  Ik  sur 
se  plancher,  —  Daniel  Webster  6tait 
le  nom  de  la  grenouille,  —  et  lui 
chanter: — Des  mouches!  Daniel,  des 
mouches! — En  un  clin  d'ceil,  Daniel 
avait  bondi  et  saisi  une  mouche  ici 
sur  le  comptoir,  puis  saute  de  nouveau 
par  terre,  ou  il  restait  vraiment  a  se 
gratter  la  tete  avec  sa  patte  de  der- 
riere,  comme  s'il  n'avait  pas  eu  la 
moindre  idee  de  sa  superiority.  Jamais 
vous  n'avez  grenouille  vu  de  aussi  mo- 
deste,  aussi  naturelle,  dou6e  comme 
elle  1'etait!  Et  quand  il  s'agissait 
de  sauter  purement  et  simplement 
3  33 


The   Jumping    Frog 

sur  terrain  plat,  elle  faisait  plus  de 
chemin  en  un  saut  qu'aucune  bete  de 
son  especeque  vous  puissiezconnaitre. 
Sauter  a  plat,  c'etait  son  fort!  Quand 
il  s'agaissait  de  cela,  Smiley  entassait 
les  enjeux  sur  elle  tant  qu'il  lui,  restait 
un  rouge  Hard .  1 1  f aut  le  reconnaitre , 
Smiley  etait  monstrueusement  fier  de 
sa  grenouille,  et  il  en  avait  le  droit, 
car  des  gens  qui  avaient  voyage",  qui 
avaient  tout  vu,  disaient  qu'on  lui 
ferait  injure  de  la  comparer  a  une 
autre;  de  fac,on  que  Smiley  gardait 
Daniel  dans  une  petite  boite  a  claire- 
voie  qu'il  emporta  it  parfois  a  la  ville 
pour  quelque  pan. 

"  Un  jour,  un  individu  etranger  au 
camp  1'arrete  avec  sa  boite  et  lui  dit : 
— Qu'est-ce  que  vous  avez  done  serre" 
la  dedans? 

34 


The   Jumping    Frog 

"  Smiley  dit  d'un  air  indifferent:— 
Cela  pourrait  £tre  un  perroquet  ou 
un  serin,  mais  ce  n'est  rien  de  pareil, 
ce  n'est  qu'une  grenouille. 

"L'individu  la  prend,  la  regarde 
avec  soin,  la  tourne  d'un  cot6  et  de 
1'autre,  puss  il  dit. — Tiens!  en  effet! 
A  quoi  est-elle  bonne? 

" — MonDieu!  repond  Smiley,  tou- 
jours  d'un  air  degage,  elle  est  bonne 
pour  une  chose  a  mon  avis,  elle  peut 
battre  en  sautant  toute  grenouille  du 
comte"  de  Calaveras. 

"L'individu  reprend  la  boite,  1'ex- 
amine  de  nouveau  longuement,  et  la 
rend  a  Smiley  en  disant  d'un  air  de- 
libere: — Eh  bien!  je  ne  vois  pas  que 
cette  grenouille  ait  rien  de  mieux 
qu'aucune  grenouille. 

" — Possible  que  vous  ne  le  voyiez 

35 


The   Jumping    Frog 

paz,  dit  Smiley,  possible  que  vous 
vous  entendiez  en  grenouilles,  pos 
sible  que  vous  ne  vous  y  entendez 
point,  possible  que  vous  ayez  de  1'ex- 
perience,  et  possible  que  vous  ne  soyez 
qu'un  amateur.  De  toute  mani£re,  je 
parie  quarante  dollars  qu'elle  battra 
en  sautant  n'importe  quelle  grenouille 
du  comte'  de  Calaveras. 

"L'individu  reflechit  une  seconde 
et  dit  comme  attriste: — Je  ne  suis 
qu'un  etranger  ici,  je  n'ai  pas  de 
grenouille;  mais,  si  j'en  avais  une,  je 
tiendrais  le  pari. 

—Fort  bien!  re"  pond  Smiley. 
Rien  de  plus  facile.  Si  vous  voulez 
tenir  ma  boite  une  minute,  j'irai  vous 
chercher  une  grenouille. — Voila  done 
1'individu  qui  garde  la  boite,  qui  met 
ses  quarante  dollars  sur  ceux  de 

36 


a 

ft 


IT    MIGHT    BE    A    CANARY,    MAYBE,    BUT    IT    AIN'T IT'S    ONLY 

JUST    A    FROG'" 


The   Jumping    Frog 

Smiley  et  qui  attend.  II  attend 
assez  longtemps,  refiechissant  tout 
seul,  et  figurez  -  vous  qu'il  prend 
Daniel,  lui  ouvre  la  bouche  de  force 
et  avec  une  cuiller  a  the  1'emplit  de 
menu  plomb  de  chasse,  mais  1'emplit 
jusqu'au  men  ton,  puis  il  le  pose  par 
terre.  Smiley  pendant  ce  temps  6tait 
a  barboter  dans  une  mare.  Finale  - 
ment  il  attrape  une  grenouille,  1'ap- 
porte  a  cet  individu  et  dit: — Mainte- 
nant,  si  vous  etes  pret,  mettez-la 
tout  centre  Daniel,  avec  leurs  pattes 
de  devant  sur  la  meme  ligne,  et  je 
donnerai  le  signal; — puis  il  ajoute:— 
Un,  deux,  trois,  sautez! 

"Lui  et  1' individu  touchent  leurs 
grenouilles  par  derriere,  et  la  grenou 
ille  neuve  se  met  a  sautiller,   mais 
Daniel  se  souleve  lourdement,  hausse 
37 


The   Jumping    Frog 

les  6paules  ainsi,  comme  un  Franc,  ais ; 
a  quoi  bon?  il  ne  pouvait  bouger,  il 
etait  plante  solide  comme  une  en- 
clume,  il  n'avancait  pas  puls  que  si 
on  1'eut  mis  a*  1'ancre.  Smiley  fut 
surpris  et  degout<§,  mais  il  ne  se 
doutait  pas  du  tour,  bien  entendu. 
L'individu  empoche  1'argent,  s'en  va, 
et  en  s'en  allant  est-ce  qu'il  ne  donne 
pas  un  coup  de  pouce  par-dessus 
16'paulf  comme  ca,  au  pauvre  Dan 
iel,  en  disant  de  son  air  deliber6:— 
Eh  bien!  je  ne  vois  pas  que  cette 
grenouille  ait  rien  de  mieux  qu'une 
autre. 

"Smiley  se  gratta  longtemps  la 
tete,  les  yeux  fixes  sur  Daniel,  jus- 
qu'a  ce  qu'enfin  il  dit:  —  Je  me  de- 
mande  comment  diable  il  se  fait  que 
cette  bete  ait  refus6.  .  .  .  Est-ce 
38 


The   Jumping    Frog 

qu'elle  aurait  quelque  chose?  .  .  .  On 
croirait  qu'elle  est  enflee. 

"  II  empoigne  Daniel  par  la  peau  du 
cou,  le  souleve  et  dit: — Le  loup  me 
croque,  s'il  ne  pese  pas  cinq  livres. 

"II  le  retourne,  et  le  malheureux 
crache  deux  poignees  de  plomb. 
Quand  Smiley  reconnut  ce  qui  en 
etait,  il  fut  comme  fou.  Vous  le 
voyez  d'ici  poser  sa  grenouille  par 
terre  et  courir  apres  cet  individu, 
mais  il  ne  le  rattrapa  jamais,  ct"  .  .  . 

[Translation  of  the  above  back  from  the 
French.] 

THE  FROG  JUMPING  OF  THE  COUNTY 
OF  CALAVERAS 

It  there  was  one  time  here  an  in 
dividual  known  under  the  name  of 
Jim  Smiley;  it  was  in  the  winter  of 
39 


The   Jumping    Frog 

'49,  possibly  well  at  the  spring  of  '50, 
I  no  me  recollect  not  exactly.  This 
which  me  makes  to  believe  that  it 
was  the  one  or  the  other,  it  is  that  I 
shall  remember  that  the  grand  flume 
is  not  achieved  when  he  arrives  at 
the  camp  for  the  first  time,  but  of  all 
sides  he  was  the  man  the  most  fond 
of  to  bet  which  one  have  seen,  bet 
ting  upon  all  that  which  is  presented, 
when  he  could  find  an  adversary ;  and 
when  he  not  of  it  could  not,  he  passed 
to  the  side  opposed.  All  that  which 
convenienced  to  the  other,  to  him 
convenienced  also ;  seeing  that  he  had 
a  bet,  Smiley  was  satisfied.  And  he 
had  a  chance!  a  chance  even  worth 
less;  nearly  always  he  gained.  It 
must  to  say  that  he  was  always  near 
to  himself  expose,  but  one  no  could 
40 


The   Jumping    Frog 

mention  the  least  thing  without  that 
this  gaillard  offered  to  bet  the  bot 
tom,  no  matter  what,  and  to  take 
the  side  that  one  him  would,  as  I 
you  it  said  all  at  the  hour  (tout  a 
1'heure).  If  it  there  was  of  races, 
you  him  find  rich  or  ruined  at  the 
end;  if  it  there  is  a  combat  of  dogs, 
he  bring  his  bet;  he  himself  laid  al 
ways  for  a  combat  of  cats,  for  a  com 
bat  of  cocks ;— by-blue !  If  you  have 
see  two  birds  upon  a  fence,  he  you 
should  have  offered  of  to  bet  which 
of  those  birds  shall  fly  the  first ;  and 
if  there  is  meeting  at  the  camp  (meet 
ing  au  camp)  he  comes  to  bet  regu 
larly  for  the  cur6  Walker,  which  he 
judged  to  be  the  best  predicator  of 
the  neighborhood  (pr6dicateur  des 
environs)  and  which  he  was  in  effect, 
41 


The   Jumping    Frog 

and  a  brave  man.  He  would  en 
counter  a  bug  of  wood  in  the  road, 
whom  he  will  bet  upon  the  time 
which  he  shall  take  to  go  where  she 
would  go — and  if  you  him  have  take 
at  the  word,  he  will  follow  the  bug 
as  far  as  Mexique,  without  himself 
caring  to  go  so  far;  neither  of  the 
time  which  he  there  lost.  One  time 
the  woman  of  the  cure  Walker  is  very 
sick  during  long  time,  it  seemed  that 
one  not  her  saved  not ;  but  one  morn 
ing  the  cure  arrives,  and  Smiley  him 
demanded  how  she  goes,  and  he  said 
that  she  is  well  better,  grace  to  the 
infinite  misery  (lui  demande  com 
ment  elle  va,  et  il  dit  qu'elle  est  bien 
mieux,  grace  a  I'inrmie  misericorde) , 
so  much  better  that  with  the  bene 
diction  of  the  Providence  she  herself 
42 


PRIZED    HIS    MOUTH    OPEN 


OF  THE 

UNIVE1' 

OF 


The   Jumping    Frog 

of  it  would  pull  out  (elle  s'en  tirerait) ; 
and  behold  that  without  there  think 
ing  Smiley  responds:  "Well,  I  gage 
two-and-half  that  she  will  die  all  of 
same." 

This  Smiley  had  an  animal  which 
the  boys  called  the  nag  of  the  quarter 
of  hour,  but  solely  for  pleasantry, 
you  comprehend,  because,  well  un 
derstand,  she  was  more  fast  as  that! 
[Now,  why  that  exclamation?— M.T.] 
And  it  was  custom  of  to  gain  of  the 
silver  with  this  beast,  notwithstand 
ing  she  was  poussive,  cornarde,  al 
ways  taken  of  asthma,  of  colics,  or  of 
consumption,  or  something  of  ap 
proaching.  One  him  would  give  two 
or  three  hundred  yards  at  the  depart 
ure,  then  one  him  passed  without 
pain;  but  never  at  the  last  she  not 
43 


The   Jumping    Frog 

fail   of  herself   echauffer,    of  herself 
exasperate,    and   she   arrives   herself 
£cartant,  se  defendant,  her  legs  greles 
in  the  air  before  the  obstacles,  some 
times  them  elevating  and  making  with 
this  more  of  dust  than  any  horse, 
more  of  noise  above  with  his  6ternu- 
mens  and  reniflemens — crac!   she  ar 
rives  then  always  first  by  one  head,  as 
just  as  one  can  it  measure.     And  he 
had  a  small  bull  dog  (boule  dogue!) 
who,  to  him  see,  no  value,  not  a  cent ; 
one  would  believe  that  to  bet  against 
him  it  was  to  steal,  so  much  he  was 
ordinary;  but  as  soon  as  the  game 
made,  she  becomes  another  dog.   Her 
jaw  inferior  commence  to  project  like 
a  deck  of  before,  his  teeth  themselves 
discover  brilliant  like  some  furnaces, 
and    a    dog    could    him    tackle    (le 
44 


The   Jumping    Frog 

taquiner),  him  excite,  him  murder  (le 
mordre),  him  throw  two  or  three 
times  over  his  shoulder,  Andr6  Jack 
son — this  was  the  name  of  the  dog — 
Andre  Jackson  takes  that  tranquilly, 
as  if  he  not  himself  was  never  ex 
pecting  other  thing,  and  when  the 
bets  were  doubled  and  redoubled 
against  him,  he  you  seize  the  other 
dog  just  at  the  articulation  of  the  leg 
of  behind,  and  he  not  it  leave  more, 
not  that  he  it  masticate,  you  conceive, 
but  he  himself  there  shall  be  hold 
ing  during  until  that  one  throws  the 
sponge  in  the  air,  must  he  wait  a  year. 
Smiley  gained  always  with  this  beast- 
la;  unhappily  they  have  finished  by 
elevating  a  dog  who  no  had  not  of 
feet  of  behind,  because  one  them  had 
sawed;  and  when  things  were  at  the 
45 


The    Jumping    Frog 

point  that  he  would,  and  that  he 
came  to  himself  throw  upon  his 
morsel  favorite,  the  poor  dog  com 
prehended  in  an  instant  that  he  him 
self  was  deceived  in  him,  and  that  the 
other  dog  him  had.  You  no  have 
never  see  person  having  the  air  more 
penaud  and  more  discouraged ;  he  not 
made  no  effort  to  gain  the  combat, 
and  was  rudely  shucked. 

Eh  bien!  this  Smiley  nourished 
some  terriers  a  rats,  and  some  cocks 
of  combat,  and  some  cats,  and  all 
sorts  of  things;  and  with  his  rage  of 
betting  one  no  had  more  of  repose. 
He  trapped  one  day  a  frog  and  him 
imported  with  him  (et  1'emporta  chez 
lui),  saying  that  he  pretended  to  make 
his  education.  You  me  believe  if  you 
will,  but  during  three  months  he  not 


The   Jumping    Frog 

has  nothing  done  but  to  him  appre 
hend  to  jump  (apprendre  a  sauter) 
in  a  court  retired  of  her  mansion  (de 
sa  maison) .  And  I  you  respond  that 
he  have  succeeded.  He  him  gives  a 
small  blow  by  behind,  and  the  instant 
after  you  shall  see  the  frog  turn  in  the 
air  like  a  grease-biscuit,  make  one  sum 
mersault,  sometimes  two,  when  she 
was  well  started,  and  re-fall  upon  his 
feet  like  a  cat.  He  him  had  accom 
plished  in  the  art  of  to  gobble  the 
flies  (gober  des  mouches),  and  him 
there  exercised  continually — so  well 
that  a  fly  at  the  most  far  that  she 
appeared  was  a  fly  lost.  Smiley  had 
custom  to  say  that  all  which  lacked 
to  a  frog  it  was  the  education,  but 
with  the  education  she  could  do  nearly 
all  —  and  I  him  believe.  Tenez,  I 
47 


The   Jumping    Frog 

him  have  seen  pose  Daniel  Webster 
there  upon  this  plank — Daniel  Web 
ster  was  the  name  of  the  frog — and 
to  him  sing,  "Some  flies,  Daniel, 
some  flies!" — in  a  flash  of  the  eye 
Daniel  had  bounded  and  seized  a  fly 
here  upon  the  counter,  then  jumped 
anew  at  the  earth,  where  he  rested 
truly  to  himself  scratch  the  head 
with  his  behind  foot,  as  if  he  no  had 
not  the  least  idea  of  his  superiority. 
Never  you  not  have  seen  frog  as  mod 
est,  as  natural,  sweet  as  she  was. 
And  when  he  himself  agitated  to 
jump  purely  and  simply  upon  plain 
earth,  she  does  more  ground  in  one 
jump  than  any  beast  of  his  species 
than  you  can  know.  To  jump  plain 
—this  was  his  strong.  When  he  him 
self  agitated  for  that,  Smiley  multi- 
48 


"'FINALLY   HE  KETCHED  A   FROG 


The  Jumping   Frog 

plied  the  bets  upon  her  a.s  long  as 
there  to  him  remained  a  red.  It 
must  to  know,  Smiley  was  mon 
strously  proud  of  his  frog,  and  he  of 
it  was  right,  for  some  men  who  were 
traveled,  who  had  all  seen,  said  that 
they  to  him  would  be  injurious  to  him 
compare  to  another  frog.  Smiley 
guarded  Daniel  in  a  little  box  latticed 
which  he  carried  bytimes  to  the  vil 
lage  for  some  bet. 

One  day  an  individual  stranger  at 
the  camp  him  arrested  with  his  box 
and  him  said: 

"What  is  this  that  you  have  then 
shut  up  there  within?" 

Smiley  said,  with  an  air  indifferent : 

"That  could  be  a  paroquet,  or  a 
syringe  (ou  un  serin),  but  this  no  is 
nothing  of  such,  it  not  is  but  a  frog." 
4  49 


The   Jumping    Frog 

The  individual  it  took,  it  regarded 
with  care,  it  turned  from  one  side 
and  from  the  other,  then  he  said: 

"Tiens!  in  effect! — At  what  is  she 
good?" 

"My  God!"  respond  Smiley,  al 
ways  with  an  air  disengaged,  "she 
is  good  for  one  thing,  to  my  notice 
(a  mon  avis),  she  can  batter  in  jump 
ing  (elle  peut  batter  en  sautant)  all 
frogs  of  the  county  of  Calaveras." 

The  individual  re-took  the  box,  it 
examined  of  new  longly,  and  it  ren 
dered  to  Smiley  in  saying  with  an  air 
deliberate : 

"Eh  bien!  I  no  saw  not  that  that 
frog  had  nothing  of  better  than  each 
frog."  (Je  ne  vois  pas  que  cette 
grenouille  ait  rien  de  mieux  qu'au- 
cune  grenouille.)  [If  that  isn't  gram- 


The   Jumping    Frog 

mar  gone  to  seed,  then  I  count  my 
self  no  judge. — M.  T.] 

"  Possible  that  you  not  it  saw  not," 
said  Smiley,  "possible  that  you — you 
comprehend  frogs;  possible  that  you 
not  you  there  comprehend  nothing; 
possible  that  you  had  of  the  ex 
perience,  and  possible  that  you  not  be 
but  an  amateur.  Of  all  manner  (De 
toute  maniere)  I  bet  forty  dollars  that 
she  batter  in  jumping  no  matter 
which  frog  of  the  county  of  Cala- 
veras." 

The  individual  reflected  a  second, 
and  said  like  sad : 

"  I  not  am  but  a  stranger  here,  I  no 
have  not  a  frog ;  but  if  I  of  it  had  one, 
I  would  embrace  the  bet." 

"Strong  well!"  respond  Smiley; 
"nothing  of  more  facility.  If  you 


The   Jumping    Frog 

will  hold  my  box  a  minute,  I  go  you 
to  search  a  frog  (j'irai  vous  cher- 
cher)." 

Behold,  then,  the  individual,  who 
guards  the  box,  who  puts  his  forty 
dollars  upon  those  of  Smiley,  and  who 
attends  (et  qui  attend) .  He  attended 
enough  longtimes,  reflecting  all  solely. 
And  figure  you  that  he  takes  Daniel, 
him  opens  the  mouth  by  force  and 
with  a  teaspoon  him  fills  with  shot  of 
the  hunt,  even  him  fills  just  to  the 
chin,  then  he  him  puts  by  the  earth. 
Smiley  during  these  times  was  at 
slopping  in  a  swamp.  Finally  he 
trapped  (attrape)  a  frog,  him  carried 
to  that  individual,  and  said: 

"  Now  if  you  be  ready,  put  him  all 
against  Daniel,  with  their  before  feet 
upon  the  same  line,  and  I  give  the 
52 


"'TURNED  HIM   UPSIDE  DOWN 


The   Jumping    Frog 

signal" — then  he  added:  "One,  two, 
three — advance ! ' ' 

Him  and  the  individual  touched 
their  frogs  by  behind,  and  the  frog 
new  put  to  jump  smartly,  but  Daniel 
himself  lifted  ponderously,  exalted  the 
shoulders  thus,  like  a  Frenchman— 
to  what  good?  he  not  could  budge, 
he  is  planted  solid  like  a  church,  he 
not  advance  no  more  than  if  one 
him  had  put  at  the  anchor. 

Smiley  was  surprised  and  disgusted, 
but  he  not  himself  doubted  not  of  the 
turn  being  intended  (mais  il  ne  se 
doutait  pas  du  tour,  bien  entendu). 
The  individual  empocketed  the  silver, 
himself  with  it  went,  and  of  it  him 
self  in  going  is  it  that  he  no  gives  not 
a  jerk  of  thumb  over  the  shoulder- 
like  that — at  the  poor  Daniel,  in  say- 
53 


The   Jumping    Frog 

ing  with  his  air  deliberate — (L'in- 
dividu  empoche  1'argent,  s'en  va  et 
en  s'en  allant  est  ce  qu'il  ne  donne 
pas  un  coup  de  pouce  par-dessus 
l'e"paule,  comme  ca,  au  pauvre  Daniel, 
endisant  de  son  air  delibere) : 

"Eh  bien!  /  no  see  not  that  that 
frog  has  nothing  of  better  than  another." 

Smiley  himself  scratched  long- 
times  the  head,  the  eyes  fixed  upon 
Daniel,  until  that  which  at  last  he 
said: 

"I  me  demand  how  the  devil  it 
makes  itself  that  this  beast  has  re 
fused.  Is  it  that  she  had  something? 
One  would  believe  that  she  is  stuffed." 

He  grasped  Daniel  by  the  skin  of 
the  neck,  him  lifted  and  said: 

"The  wolf  me  bite  if  he  no  weigh 
not  five  pounds." 

54 


The   Jumping    Frog 

He  him  reversed  and  the  unhappy 
belched  two  handfuls  of  shot  (et  le 
malhereus,  etc.).  When  Smiley  rec 
ognized  how  it  was,  he  was  like  mad. 
He  deposited  his  frog  by  the  earth 
and  ran  after  that  individual,  but  he 
not  him  caught  never. 

Such  is  the  Jumping  Frog,  to  the 
distorted  French  eye.  I  claim  that 
I  never  put  together  such  an  odious 
mixture  of  bad  grammar  and  de 
lirium  tremens  in  my  life.  And  what 
has  a  poor  foreigner  like  me  done,  to 
be  abused  and  misrepresented  like 
this  ?  When  I  say,  ' '  Well,  I  don't  see 
no  p'ints  about  that  frog  that's  any 
better'n  any  other  frog,"  is  it  kind,  is 
it  just,  for  this  Frenchman  to  try  to 
make  it  appear  that  I  said,  "  Eh  bien! 
55 


The   Jumping    Frog 

I  no  saw  not  that  that  frog  had  noth 
ing  of  better  than  each  frog?"     I 
have  no  heart  to  write  more.     I  never 
felt  so  about  anything  before. 
HARTFORD,  March,  1875. 


PRIVATE    HISTORY    OF   THE   "JUMPING 
FROG"    STORY 

Five  or  six  years  ago  a  lady  from 
Finland  asked  me  to  tell  her  a  story 
in  our  negro  dialect,  so  that  she 
could  get  an  idea  of  what  that  vari 
ety  of  speech  was  like.  I  told  her 
one  of  Hopkinson  Smith's  negro 
stories,  and  gave  her  a  copy  of 
Harper's  Monthly  containing  it.  She 
translated  it  for  a  Swedish  news 
paper,  but  by  an  oversight  named 
me  as  the  author  of  it  instead  of 
56 


"MY    RE-TRAXSLATION     FROM    THE    FRENCH" 


The   Jumping    Frog 

Smith.  I  was  very  sorry  for  that, 
because  I  got  a  good  lashing  in  the 
Swedish  press,  which  would  have  fall 
en  to  his  share  but  for  that  mistake ; 
for  it  was  shown  that  Boccaccio  had 
told  that  very  story,  in  his  curt  and 
meagre  fashion,  five  hundred  years  be 
fore  Smith  took  hold  of  it  and  made 
a  good  and  tellable  thing  out  of  it. 

I  have  always  been  sorry  for 
Smith.  But  my  own  turn  has  come 
now.  A  few  weeks  ago  Professor 
Van  Dyke,  of  Princeton,  asked  this 
question : 

"  Do  you  know  how  old  your  Jump 
ing  Frog  story  is?" 

And  I  answered: 

' '  Yes — forty-five  years .  The  thing 
happened  in  Calaveras  County  in  the 
spring  of  1849." 

57 


The    Jumping    Frog 

"  No ;  it  happened  earlier — a  couple 
of  thousand  years  earlier ;  it  is  a  Greek 
story." 

I  was  astonished — and  hurt.  I 
said: 

"  I  am  willing  to  be  a  literary  thief 
if  it  has  been  so  ordained ;  I  am  even 
willing  to  be  caught  robbing  the  an 
cient  dead  alongside  of  Hopkinson 
Smith,  for  he  is  my  friend  and  a  good 
fellow,  and  I  think  would  be  as  hon 
est  as  any  one  if  he  could  do  it  with 
out  occasioning  remark ;  but  I  am  not 
willing  to  antedate  his  crimes  by 
fifteen  hundred  years.  I  must  ask 
you  to  knock  off  part  of  that." 

But  the  professor  was  not  chaffing ; 
he  was  in  earnest,  and  could  not 
abate  a  century.  He  named  the 
Greek  author,  and  offered  to  get  the 

58 


The   Jumping    Frog 

book  and  send  it  to  me  and  the  col 
lege  text-book  containing  the  English 
translation  also.  I  thought  I  would 
like  the  translation  best,  because 
Greek  makes  me  tired.  January  3oth 
he  sent  me  the  English  version,  and 
I  will  presently  insert  it  in  this 
article.  It  is  my  Jumping  Frog  tale 
in  every  essential.  It  is  not  strung 
out  as  I  have  it  strung  out,  but  it  is 
all  there. 

To  me  this  is  very  curious  and  in 
teresting.  Curious  for  several  rea 
sons.  For  instance: 

I  heard  the  story  told  by  a  man 
who  was  not  telling  it  to  his  hearers 
as  a  thing  new  to  them,  but  as  a 
thing  which  they  had  witnessed  and 
would  remember.  He  was  a  dull  per 
son,  and  ignorant;  he  had  no  gift  as 
59 


The   Jumping    Frog 

a  story-teller,  and  no  invention;  in 
his  mouth  this  episode  was  merely 
history — history  and  statistics;  and 
the  gravest  sort  of  history,  too;  he 
was  entirely  serious,  for  he  was  deal 
ing  with  what  to  him  were  austere 
facts,  and  they  interested  him  solely 
because  they  were  facts ;  he  was  draw 
ing  on  his  memory,  not  his  mind ;  he 
saw  no  humor  in  his  tale,  neither  did 
his  listeners ;  neither  he  nor  they  ever 
smiled  or  laughed ;  in  my  time  I  have 
not  attended  a  more  solemn  confer 
ence.  To  him  and  to  his  fellow  gold- 
miners  there  were  just  two  things  in 
the  story  that  were  worth  considering. 
One  was  the  smartness  of  its  hero,  Jim 
Smiley,  in  taking  the  stranger  in  with 
a  loaded  frog;  and  the  other  was 
Smiley 's  deep  knowledge  of  a  frog's 
60 


The   Jumping    Frog 

nature — for  he  knew  (as  the  narrator 
asserted  and  the  listeners  conceded) 
that  a  frog  likes  shot  and  is  always 
ready  to  eat  it.  Those  men  discussed 
those  two  points,  and  those  only. 
They  were  hearty  in  their  admiration 
of  them,  and  none  of  the  party  was 
aware  that  a  first-rate  story  had  been 
told  in  a  first-rate  way,  and  that  it 
was  brimful  of  a  quality  whose  pres 
ence  they  never  suspected — humor. 

Now,  then,  the  interesting  ques 
tion  is,  did  the  frog  episode  happen 
in  Angel's  Camp  in  the  spring  of  '49, 
as  told  in  my  hearing  that  day  in 
the  fall  of  1865  ?  I  am  perfectly  sure 
that  it  did.  I  am  also  sure  that  its 
duplicate  happened  in  Boeotia  a 
couple  of  thousand  years  ago.  I 
think  it  must  be  a  case  of  history 
61 


The   Jumping    Frog 

actually  repeating  itself,  and  not  a 
case  of  a  good  story  floating  down 
the  ages  and  surviving  because  too 
good  to  be  allowed  to  perish. 

I  would  now  like  to  have  the  reader 
examine  the  Greek  story  and  the 
story  told  by  the  dull  and  solemn 
Californian,  and  observe  how  exactly 
alike  they  are  in  essentials. 

[Translation.] 
THE.   ATHENIAN     AND     THE     FROG* 

An  Athenian  once  fell  in  with  a 
Boeotian  who  was  sitting  by  the  road 
side  looking  at  a  frog.  Seeing  the 
other  approach,  the  Boeotian  said  his 
was  a  remarkable  frog,  and  asked  if 
he  would  agree  to  start  a  contest  of 

*  Sidgwick,  Greek  Prose  Composition,  p.  116. 
62 


The    Jumping    Frog 

frogs,  on  condition  that  he  whose  frog 
jumped  farthest  should  receive  a 
large  sum  of  money.  The  Athenian 
replied  that  he  would  if  the  other 
would  fetch  him  a  frog,  for  the  lake 
was  near.  To  this  he  agreed,  and 
when  he  was  gone  the  Athenian  took 
the  frog,  and,  opening  its  mouth, 
poured  some  stones  into  its  stomach, 
so  that  it  did  not  indeed  seem  larger 
than  before,  but  could  not  jump. 
The  Boeotian  soon  returned  with  the 
other  frog,  and  the  contest  began. 
The  second  frog  first  was  pinched, 
and  jumped  moderately;  then  they 
pinched  the  Boeotian  frog.  And  he 
gathered  himself  for  a  leap,  and  used 
the  utmost  effort,  but  he  could  not 
move  his  body  the  least.  So  the 
Athenian  departed  with  the  money. 
63 


The   Jumping    Frog 

When  he  was  gone  the  Boeotian, 
wondering  what  was  the  matter  with 
the  frog,  lifted  him  up  and  examined 
him.  And  being  turned  upside  down, 
he  opened  his  mouth  and  vomited 
out  the  stones. 

NOTE.  November,  1903.  When  I 
became  convinced  that  the  "Jump 
ing  Frog"  was  a  Greek  story  two  or 
three  thousand  years  old,  I  was  sin 
cerely  happy,  for  apparently  here  was 
a  most  striking  and  satisfactory  justi 
fication  of  a  favorite  theory  of  mine 
— to  wit,  that  no  occurrence  is  sole 
and  solitary,  but  is  merely  a  repetition 
of  a  thing  which  has  happened  before, 
and  perhaps  often.  Still,  when  I  later 
had  a  chance  to  see  Professor  Sidg- 
wick's  book  I  was  a  little  staggered, 
64 


The   Jumping    Frog 

because  of  two  things:  the  details 
were  a  little  too  faithful  to  the  facts 
in  the  Calaveras  incident  for  the 
comfort  of  my  theory,  and  I  could 
not  help  being  suspicious  of  the  Greek 
frog  because  he  was  willing  to  be  fed 
with  gravel.  One  can't  beguile  the 
modern  frog  with  that  product. 

By-and-by,  in  England,  after  a  few 
years,  I  learned  that  there  hadn't  been 
any  Greek  frog  in  the  business,  and 
no  Greek  story  about  his  adventures. 
Professor  Sidgwick  had  not  claimed 
that  it  was  a  Greek  tale;  he  had 
merely  synopsised  the  Calaveras  tale 
and  transferred  the  incident  to  classic 
Greece;  but  as  he  did  not  state  that 
it  was  the  same  old  frog,  the  English 
papers  reproved  him  for  the  omission. 
He  told  me  this  in  England  in  1899  or 


The   Jumping    Frog 

1900,  and  was  much  troubled  about 
that  censure,  for  his  act  had  been 
innocent,  he  believing  that  the  story's 
origin  was  so  well  known  as  to  render 
formal  mention  of  it  unnecessary.  I 
was  very  sorry  for  the  censure,  but 
it  was  not  I  that  applied  it.  I  would 
not  have  done  it. 

M.  T. 


THE 


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THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIB 


